BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday questioned the role of TMC government in Saradha chit fund scam and asked why chief minister Mamata Banerjee is protecting those accused in the ponzi scheme.

Shah, who was addressing a large rally outside Victoria Hall in Kolkata, said, "TMC MPs protest against black money in Parliament, I want to ask Didi whether Saradha chit fund money is black or white?"

Attacking the Mamata government relentlessly on the Saradha scam, Shah added, "Didi says CBI has framed TMC leaders, I challenge her to say that those interrogated by CBI are innocent."

Shah asked if Mamata has any responsibility towards the poor depositors whose money was lost in the chit fund scam. "It is clear that Trinamool leaders are involved in the chit fund scam".

"Why did you close down the Shyamal Sen commission? You are now trying to save those who were involved in chit fund scam," Shah said.

Amit Shah continued his attack on the Mamata government and accused them of trying to shield the terrorists involved in the Burdwan blast. "TMC leaders are involved in this blast"

"Saradha chit fund's money was used in this blast, CBI is investigating this matter," Shah said.

Accusing the Mamata government of protecting illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, Shah said, "The people of West Bengal have elected you CM, not the infiltrators from Bangladesh. Stop giving them protection."

The BJP president said that the government has failed the people of Bengal, "People had voted for the Trinamool Congress with a lot of hope. But after 3 years, Bengal is still the same," Shah said.

Exhorting Narendra Modi's call for a "Trinamool-free Bengal", Shah said that the countdown for the exit of the Mamata Banerjee government has begun.

Amit Shah said that the people of Bengal need a strong leadership and urged them to support BJP and turn Bengal into the no. 1 state of the country.

"If you want to bring development to West Bengal, you must completely uproot TMC in the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls," he said.

Shah, known to be a modern-day Chanakya to BJP and considered the brains behind the party's sweep in the Lok Sabha polls and good showing in assembly elections across the country, made it amply clear that Bengal is his top priority. BJP, according to him, will go the whole hog to try and clinch the 2016 Vidhan Sabha polls in the state. For this, the elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies in 2015 are extremely crucial.

In return for votes, Modi's 'Man of the Match' in the Lok Sabha polls promised to take Bengal to No. 1 position in the country and the same level as states like Gujarat and Maharashtra in the western part of the country. It is a known fact that the KMC polls are an indicator of things to come in the near future for any political party. The Left lost heavily in the 2010 KMC elections and was routed in the 2011 assembly polls.

"Modiji ka nara hay â€” Congress mukt Bharat aur Trinamool mukt Bangal. (Narendra Modi's call is to rid the country of Congress and Bengal of Trinamool)," Shah said, adding: "Will Mamata allow the Modi government to do some good for the people of Bengal? She won't till she is in power. Then, the only option for development is to bring in BJP. There has been no development under Mamata. Factories are shutting down and the number of unemployed is climbing every day. If you have faith, we shall need only five years to take Bengal to No. 1 position in India. There is intelligence here. The people of Bengal are skilled. There is infrastructure. Then why is the state so underdeveloped?

We need to start from the KMC elections. Trinamool will have to be displaced from the roots if something is to be done for this state. We have won in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana. We will win in Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir. But none of these is as crucial as West Bengal. Mamata ka sadhgi ka natak (Mamata's drama of leading an austere life) will come to an end. What this state requires is good governance and development. The youth from West Bengal deserve the same opportunities as those from other states. There will be a change in the next one-and-a-half years."

According to sources in BJP, Shah was in Kolkata to see for himself how things have swung in the party's favour. On Sunday, he lambasted Mamata for trying to protect her party MPs accused in the Saradha scam and her alleged reliance on the votes of Bangladeshi infiltrators.

READ ALSO: Shah pauses, minorities hear call

"Ulti ginti shuru ho gayi hay (the reverse count has started). The Trinamool flashed black umbrellas in Parliament on the black money issue. I would like to know whether the Saradha funds are black or white. Doesn't Mamata feel that she has a responsibility towards those who lost money due to the Saradha scam? She is accusing the CBI of hounding her party leaders. It is for the court to decide whether those arrested are guilty or not.

"I challenge Mamata to make a public statement saying that those arrested are innocent. Why can't she say who purchased her painting? Why was the Justice Shyamal Sen commission wound up? Paying little heed to national security, Mamata is protecting those responsible for the Khagragarh blasts. Shakil Ahmed was involved in earlier blasts. Why didn't the Bengal police have anything on him? Mamata is involved in votebank politics and believes she can rule West Bengal with support from Bangladeshi infiltrators. She attempted to stall the NIA probe as well. She will get just returns in the next elections," Shah said.

Trying to fend off BJP's no-holds-barred attack on Mamata, Trinamool retorted that the whole world knows of her honesty and there can't be any doubt about it. "They are talking about corruption but we have heard of a diary in the Sahara case which allegedly has the names of senior BJP leaders like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," said state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee.

From a four-minute pause at 3.20pm halfway through his speech to allow azaan from the Tipu Sultan Mosque to be heard uninterrupted, to handing over Rs 50,000 in cheques to four families â€” all Muslims â€” who had died in political clashes, BJP national president Amit Shah on Sunday stepped beyond mere words to woo an electorate in Bengal that is increasingly flocking to his party in south Bengal, particularly Birbhum.

With CPM unable to fight their cause against Trinamool Congress, a large section of the minorities are joining the saffron fold â€” a fact the national leadership is learning to adapt to.

Significantly, a considerable portion of the huge turnout in the heart of central Kolkata comprised members of the minority community.

Rahamtullah Gazi travelled around 180km â€” all the way from Halsidanga village in Birbhum's Illambaazar block â€” to become a part of the BJP rally at Esplanade. His name didn't figure in the list of BJP supporters who came from the district because this former member of a CPM gram panchayat came alone. He didn't want to be detected. "For the last one year, I couldn't return home. My daughter couldn't attend school and my wife was forced to stay at home. My only fault was that I was a CPM leader and my family voted for the Left," he said. "We were ostracised. Even now, I cannot stay at home for extended periods. My family is on the brink of extinction. CPM has lost ground and I cannot sit and watch my family die. BJP, to me, is the only alternative," he added.

Gazi was not alone. Walking on the corridors of the biggest BJP rally in the state in recent times, TOI traced several people from the minority community who rallied behind the BJP president to evade Trinamool's wrath. One such person was Karim Seikh, who came from Hasnabad in North 24-Parganas. "On Thursday night, Trinamool goons visited several homes and warned residents against coming to the rally. We couldn't even leave our village together. We walked for nearly eight kilometres and then boarded the bus that was leaving for the rally," he said.

Mujibar Rahman from Deganaga said: "When I was a student, I used to support the Naxals but since the Left Front came to power, my family and I always voted for CPM. Now, CPM hardly has a presence in our village and we prefer to extend our support to BJP rather than join Trinamool."

Abdul Majid came from a small village on the top of Ayodhya hills in Purulia. "During the hard days of Trinamool Congress, we were with them but now we find no place in the party. Some people who took all the advantages from the Left Front government are now with Trinamool Congress. This party has become a refuge for thieves and corrupt persons," he said.

The strong minority presence ensured that BJP leaders stopped their rally thrice â€” at noon, 1.15pm and again at 3.20pm because of azaan.

"We do not believe in the politics of appeasement," said state BJP president Rahul Sinha. "Yes, I do not read namaz, but will that stop me from joining in their (Muslims') festivities? Similarly, they may not offer puja like us, but wouldn't they be a part of our festivities? Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks of a united India... An India that has Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. They are Indians too. Is this communal? Or are the ones who are fanning the Hindu-Muslim divide communal?"Shah pauses, minorities hear call - The Times of India

Trinamool Congress tried to duck under the bouncers hurled by Amit Shah against the party and Mamata Banerjee by taking refuge in the chief minister's image: the "whole world" knows about her honesty and there couldn't be any doubt over it.

Ducking apart, Trinamool is gearing up to face the chin music and hook some of the bouncers for a six. At the Trinamool Youth Congress' Shahid Minar rally on Monday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee could herself pad up to "give a fitting reply" to Shah, said some party sources, though there was no official confirmation of her presence.

But Mamata's party leaders set the tone and tenor on Sunday, levelling corruption allegations against the top rung BJP leadership.

State panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said: "Recently, when Sahara chief (Subrata Roy) was arrested and a red diary was recovered, we heard Modiji's and Amit Shah's names featured in it. What action has been taken against them? The BJP should manage the Centre government and worry about Bengal later."

Dubbing the BJP rally in Kolkata a "grand flop show" with poor attendance, Trinamool secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said: "Such meetings are organized by our block presidents.... People who have been arrested in the past are questioning the integrity of Mamata Banerjee....If they are so clean, why isn't the BJP filing its election expenditure returns with the Election Commission? But how will they find time? The Prime Minister spent the last five months of his six-month tenure abroad."

"BJP is now eyeing the civic poll, followed by the 2016 assembly poll, but it will fail to achieve its target. BJP should concentrate in Delhi before focusing on Kolkata and Bengal," Chatterjee added. "What point is he trying to make when he says Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and even Bihar don't matter, and what matters is only West Bengal? This is a gameplan to disrupt states where regional parties opposed to BJP have a strong foothold. They are using money and police (read central agencies) for it," Chatterjee said. "BJP wants power at any cost. BJP must remember this is Bengal. Malicious propaganda and smear campaigns will not work here," he added.

Mukherjee claimed BJP had broken the tradition of political courtesies in Bengal. "We feel sorry for BJP that not many people attended their rally. We heard that they placed chairs to mask the low numbers. The Centre is using the CBI for political vendetta. NIA and CBI have become the political allies of BJP," he said. "The president of BJP was sent to jail in the past."

Trinamool Youth Congress president and MP Abishek Banerjee, addressing a party rally in Canning, said: "They (BJP) do not have any local leaders. They have to import leaders from Delhi to fight against Trinamool." Abhishek was scathing in his attack on BJP. He said the party was trying to "incite violence" and tension in Bengal and destabilise the state. He also highlighted how the assets of Union cabinet ministers had "increased manifold" in just six months. He also said that the minorities were not represented in the central government. "You cannot block the rays of the sun with your hands. If you try, your hands will get burnt," he thundered.Trinamool hits back, says none can doubt Mamata - The Times of India

West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Sunday hit back at BJP president Amit Shah, who had asserted the party would be uprooted form the state, asking him concentrate on Delhi instead of Bengal and Kolkata.

Dubbing Shah's Kolkata rally as a "grand flop show", Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to ensure disintegration of regional political parties by using power and police to maintain its political supremacy.

"BJP is daydreaming of coming to power in Bengal. Instead of dreaming about Bengal and Kolkata, it would be better if he and his party concentrate on Delhi," Chatterjee, also the state education minister, told reporters hours after Shah's rally.

"The BJP is trying to see regional political parties disintegrate by using power and police to maintain its political supremacy," said Chatterjee calling Shah's rally a grand flop.

The BJP was initially denied permission by the police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for the rally before it approached the Calcutta high court form where it eventually got the nod to go ahead with the event.

During the rally, Shah attacked Trinamool supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee for "shielding Saradha scamsters and the militants accused in the Bardhaman blast" and asserted he was in Bengal to "uproot the Trinamool from the state".

Senior Trinamool leader and state panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee accused the BJP led centre of using for political gains, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing the Saradha scam and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigating the October 2 Bardhaman blast.

"The BJP has been using the CBI and the NIA for political purposes. Both the probe agencies have joined hands with the centre to help BJP maintain its supremacy," he alleged.

Ever since the 2014 Elections, BJP has gone in an overdrive and has made inroads, during the elections where it won two seats (one in Darjeeling) and after the election where many Muslims deserted the TMC and the Left to join BJP. This also led to clashes as in Parui between Muslims of different political persuasion.

While the Congress is undergoing rigor mortis, the Left is in its dying throes, the BJP is ascending and the TMC is left deeply worried that its total stranglehold may be toppled in the next elections, especially since its guaranteed vote bank of Muslims is no longer too enamoured with her empty sops.

The Sarada scam and the Bankura blast and the connected Madarsa complicity has not made the situation any better for the TMC or the fact that Mamata Bannerjee was equated at the same level as famed Indian painters like Hussein, Gaitonde and others when he scribbles in paint got picked up for Rs 1.8 crore. Her mentor the said painter Shuvaprassanna (the chap with scraggly goat like beard), Madam Mitra, Mukul Roy are being scanned by the CBI, ED and IT while the ex IG, Mazumdar and the Tumpai Bose are in jail. The cup of woes for the TMC brims over.

While the BJP is ascending, one cannot predict how the electorate will pan out.

No word is too crude, no gesticulation too lewd
The Bengal chief ministerâ€™s crass language is forcing The Telegraph to draw the bamboo curtain on her outburst that bristled with a bamboo-linked invective and a raw gesture at a public meeting in Jalpaiguri on Wednesday.
Readers who insist on their right to know may turn to Bengal â€” only if you must and you are aged above 18
**************************
Moving to Page 18
************************

Page 18Bamboo and dog barbs fly

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya
Jalpaiguri, Dec. 3: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today fell back on a crude expression and made a reference to a dog while attacking her critics during a government programme in Jalpaiguri.

Mamata said the BJP and "a section of the media" were trying to sabotage her party and the government.

" Nijeyra kortey pareyni, jara korchhey sharakkhon tadeyr pechhoney ki korey bamboo dewa jay tar chinta korey jachhey. (They couldn't themselves work for the people, they are always trying to figure out how to shove bamboos up the... of those who are doing it)," the chief minister said.

Through the transparent lectern, the chief minister could be seen gesticulating with her right hand while she was making the bamboo references.

Without taking names but in an apparent reference to BJP's Bengal observer Sidharth Nath Singh, the chief minister said she would not chase and bite a dog that had bitten her.

"Some people are coming here and telling us " Bangla chhorkey bhaago (Quit Bengal and run)". To them, I can say a lot of things. But I shouldn't, just because I have a microphone in hand. After all, if a dog comes and bites us, we don't go chasing the dog to bite it back," said the chief minister.

At a Calcutta rally on Sunday, Singh had set the tone for the BJP's forthcoming campaign by unveiling a slogan that went: " Bhaag, Madan, bhaag.... Bhaag, Mukul, bhaag.... Bhaag, Mamata, bhaag".

At a political programme the week before that, Mamata had used an expletive to describe a senior BJP leader.

Mamata's comments and gestures today come at a time Parliament proceedings have been stalled because of protests by the Opposition, including Trinamul, over a minister's derogatory remarks. The BJP went on the offensive today in the House by drawing attention to Trinamul MP Tapas Paul's "rape-and-shoot" speech.Bamboo and dog barbs fly